BURNHAM CENTER FOR COMMUNITY ADVANCEMENT

Established in 2020 by Malin Burnham and Tad Seth Parzen, the Burnham Center for Community Advancement (BCCA) is dedicated to moving our cross-border region forward, recognizing that meaningful impact requires more than just good ideas—we are steadfast in our commitment to taking decisive action.

As a community, we have big aspirational ideas. We face exciting opportunities, and we wrestle with vexing, persistent challenges. Through collaboration, we can narrow our divisions, heal disaffection, accelerate progress and live into and up to our full potential as a region. BCCA encourages and supports our community to come together and act upon our shared needs, values, and aspirations. We believe that through community engagement, vigorous dialogue, research, data and best practices, we offer a platform for our community leaders, businesses, educators, workers, researchers, faith-based organizations, nonprofits, residents and government to move us forward. Through the power of community collaboration and civic innovation we serve as a nexus to foster a region that opens doors, provides opportunity, helps the people of our great region prosper and becomes a place we are all proud to call home.

We amplify and accelerate our partners’ work and catalyze action through three pathways to address the most persistent challenges facing the San Diego region:

Community Initiated. We offer a platform for San Diegans to provide insight and expertise on how to solve community issues.

Partner Initiated. We collaborate with organizations to advance each other’s shared goals and objectives—each shaped by a community-informed perspective.

BCCA Initiated. We’re taking the long view. What is the future of our binational region twenty, thirty, or more years into our future? What do we need to be a thriving global city?

Our Values:

Transformation: We’ll strive for innovative solutions that will move our region in a new direction by finding novel ideas to address our most persistent problems.

Ideas to Action: We’re not just dreamers. We’re doers. One of the most important dimensions to this model is that ideas will become action.

Future Focused: Tomorrow’s San Diego begins today.

Diversity: An array of people and ideas are essential to move the region forward.

Collaboration: We believe collaboration can narrow our divisions, heal disaffection, and accelerate progress. Engagement, partnership, and cooperation allow us to achieve things we often can’t do on our own.